Andrew Smiler discusses ways in which male stereotypes make it hard to care that LaBeouf was raped.
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This we know for sure: actor Shia LaBeouf completed a piece of performance art at a Los Angeles gallery for five days in February 2014. Audience members became participants. He told audience members they could each sit alone with him in a private room; he would remain silent and, possibly, passive. After it ended, LaBeouf said he’d been raped by a woman; his collaborators said they didn’t realize what had happened until it was too late.
LaBeouf’s claims of rape have been the subject of much comment. Some reports suggest participants were told – or, at least, believed – they could do whatever they wanted while LaBeouf remained quiet, an idea partially supported by LaBeouf’s reports that his rapist whipped his legs for 10 minutes before making the assault sexual. This has been taken as LaBeouf giving consent for sexual activity. I don’t buy that because I don’t believe you can give blanket consent that excuses someone who commits a felony. If he’d been severely physically assaulted, I don’t think we’d say he’d agreed to be beaten up.
In fact, we know that blanket consent doesn’t include sex. We understand that when a woman (or man) says “I do” at the altar, that doesn’t mean “I always will” in bed. She (or he) can refuse sex with their spouse. If the spouse ignores that refusal, it’s called spousal rape. Shouldn’t LaBeouf’s “consent” have the same boundaries?
I think all of this discussion about whether or not Labeouf was really raped is due to one thing: he’s male.
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Others have suggested LaBeouf is responsible and should have expected this might happen. When Marina Abramovic originally performed this piece in 1974 – and LaBeouf’s performance might range from homage to plagiarism – she was physically assaulted and had a gun held to her head. Forty years later, and in a culture where people talk openly about their desire to have sex with the famous, it’s hard to imagine that LaBeouf, his handlers, and his collaborators didn’t discuss the possibility that someone would kiss him, stroke his chest, or go for his cock.
Yet others have written the incident off as the result of bad art. Or LaBeouf’s addiction or mental health problems.
I think all of this discussion about whether or not Labeouf was really raped is due to one thing: he’s male. At the cultural level, the only American image of men as rape victims come from prison movies. It’s Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption: convict on convict with a healthy dose of physical violence.
For most people, it’s hard to imagine that a guy would ever refuse sex. In response to a report that as many as 40% of young men had been forced into sexual activity against their will, Bill Maher joked that it’s not rape, it’s “getting lucky.” You can find the same comment in stories of 15 year old boys who are raped by their 20- or 30-something teachers. When we refuse to acknowledge that guys might and can refuse sex, we exclude them from the category of possible rape victims (and also take away men’s ability to control their own bodies).
Many people also have difficulty with the idea that men are vulnerable. We like our men tough, whether that’s John Wayne, James Bond, or MMA fighters. We expect professional athletes to “play through the pain.” We didn’t take football concussions seriously until we were able to document the damage through MRIs and autopsies; retired players’ stories were insufficient evidence. The reality, of course, is that men can be hurt and can’t always “tough it out”; they need to address their injuries and take time to heal.
Refusing to see men as rape victims, and refusing to acknowledge their emotional vulnerability, frees us from needing to address men’s feelings.
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Refusing to see men as rape victims, and refusing to acknowledge their emotional vulnerability, frees us from needing to address men’s feelings. We prefer to see men as emotionless Neanderthals, but the reality is that boys and men do feel, quite deeply. When confronted with men’s feelings, we often tell them to “tough it out” and lose patience if those feelings don’t go away within a day or two. Yet much of the damage from rape is emotional, influencing people’s moods and their anxiety levels. Denying male rape allows us to continue ignoring men’s feelings. When those denied and repressed feelings become anger that spills over into suicide, and sometimes into murder-suicide, we wonder why those guys didn’t tell anyone how they felt.
If we genuinely care about the plight of men – our sons, brothers, and fathers – then we need to acknowledge that men can be raped and sexually assaulted. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that approximately 1.6 million men will be raped in their lifetime and a total of 25 Million men, approximately 22% of the male population, will be the victim of some type of sexual violence in their lifetime.
We have a lot to gain by acknowledging that men can be raped. Victims will be in a better position to get the help and support they need from loved ones and professionals. This, in turn, will help men lead better, fuller lives and make them more available to other people in their lives. We can start by letting go of our preconceptions and stereotypes of men and, instead, treat them as human beings.
Thank you for raising the issue Shia.
You might also be interested in:
Why Are We Indifferent to Male Rape Victims?
6 Ways Jokes About Violence Against Men Harms Male Victims
The Sexual Abuse of Boys Is Not “Getting Lucky” and We Need to Stop Promoting This Myth
Who Will Be The “Poster Child” For Sexually Abused Boys?
-image by Taylor McBride/flickr used under Creative Commons 2.0 license.
The actions allegedly performed on LaBeouf meet the current definition of sexual assault. Personally, I don’t think he was raped, but that’s just my opinion dude.
One angle that no one seems to have talked about is the special nature of this issue, as it was an art project. Everybody was told that he’d sit still, and do nothing. In short, people could do anything to him without fear of reprisal. Labeouf put trust in total strangers. Say what you want, but in an art performance like this, EVERYTHING is included, a part of it. The fact that Labeouf sat there passively implies his dedication to the art performance over his own physical well-being. This is not a case of a man being accosted out on… Read more »
Overall a very good article. Although I must admit I was disappointed that the author (which I think should know better) somehow ended up excluding “being made to penetrate” victims as rape victims by not including them when referring to the rape prevalence statistics from the CDC’s NISVS 2010 Report: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that approximately 1.6 million men will be raped in their lifetime It is correct that the NISVS 2010 Report found that an estimated 1.6 million men have been raped sometime in their lifetime. However, it also found that an estimated 5.5 million… Read more »
Want to repeat what I said in the other thread:
This is a very odd story. I don’t think many disagree that not responding due to fear, shock, or freezing up in some way is a fair criticism, but what if his motivation not to respond was due to him wanting to keep the “integrity” of “his” “art” intact?
Could be where Pierce may be going with his criticism, via my speculation…
I get you. It is a shame that when discussing the issue of rape of men we apparently are dependent on public cases which are less clear-cut as we might wish for. You might derive from it that “yes, men experience rape by women, but not in the same way as women do at the hands of men, it is only vague, nonviolent stuff, which can only be called rape under the most inclusive of definitions.” It is doing the discourse a disservice. However, 1) Shia LaBeouf did not come forward with this to make a sociopolitical statement or forward… Read more »
True enough. I personally do have to assume that he is a rational agent, otherwise the whole conversation becomes rather moot for all participants could similarly be exposed to the same critical lens: the rapist, his aids, other staff etc.
It has also been written that he has followed the lead of this performance from an early seventies performance art by the name of Rhythm 0 (you can Google it for details). Marina Abramovic was the performance artist who also experienced similar art patron abuse during her performance. There are also some parallels with pious religious performances: crucifixion, flagellation etc
Thanks for the reply – my response is being artistically moderated
Ok – I have just read Christopher Anderson’s column (Piers Morgan v Shia LeBeouf) on this subject, and had the question answered for me
While I don’t think that anyone, male or female, should be assaulted… I’d like to ask a (naive?) question…
Can an adult male be raped by a female? (emphasis on adult)
Wouldn’t it require the male to be erect and penetrating the female?
As if men don’t have penetrate holes. What an idiot!!!
You are not a man, I take it. (The strange thing about this is, however, that I find even men arguing about the point. They should know better about their own physiological setup!) Whenever the point comes up in discussion (it often does), there’s always someone who says, “Yes, a man can be raped if you slip a Viagra into his drink or something.” That may be so, but there is no reason to think so complicated! 1) A young healthy man’s penis will get hard if you stroke it for a couple of minutes. It’s not more difficult than… Read more »
I’ll take him at his word. The problem is his story just doesn’t compute. I won’t get into why, because it’s obvious. Clearly some facts are missing. I hope he at least files a complaint to see if a prosecution can be realized.
Excellent article Andrew! “Nobodies” don’t make headlines so using a famous person to address this issue was a great decision.
While I don’t discount your general comments on male rape victims and how we view them, the reason I can’t take LaBeouf’s claim seriously is that I cannot take LaBeouf seriously. That’s not to say I categorically deny his claim; I just think he’s created a persona who will say or do anything for attention and controversy. If he isn’t believed. he can blame himself.
However, if he reported this alleged rape to the cops, I might look at it differently. Has he done so?
That is a nice spin on victim blaming, I’ll remember that if say Miley Cyrus or Kim Khardashian say they were raped.
Lady Gaga has a persona as outrageous as any, but I haven’t heard that anybody did deny her claims of having been raped as a teenager.
This website started off really strong, but is becoming increasingly ridiculous.
The moral of the article may hold some value, but the incident used as an example is plainly silly. I no longer expect good judgement from writers on this site.
fantastic article.
Thanks 8ball.
Great take on this issue, Andrew. Shia should be allowed to define his own experience. To my knowledge he’s not seeking any legal recourse; he’s simply reporting trauma. Honor it and allow him to heal as best he can.
Thanks Roger.
Roger Canaff “To my knowledge he’s not seeking any legal recourse; he’s simply reporting trauma. Honor it ” This is where I disagree. If the perpetrator can be identified and there is enough evidence to prosecute without LaBeouf (his TWO collaborators support his claim) and there were possibly other witnesses like her boyfriend, I think the state needs to bring a prosecution. We would insist on this if the perpetrator was a man and the victim a woman. If LaBeouf tells the DA that he doesn’t want to prosecute rather than not taking a position on it and the case… Read more »
I would want to treat all allegations of rape with the same standard no matter what the gender is of the people involved. (Besides, the gender of the accused may not be obvious, so how could you even have a double standard?) Here’s the standard: Take every accusation of rape extremely seriously, and maintain presumption of innocent of the accused until proven guilty. Take his accusation seriously, AND his alleged rapist is innocent until proven guilty. I would say the same thing if the genders were reversed was accused of raping a woman. I just can’t understand why so many… Read more »
“Why can’t we take his allegations seriously even IF people doubt them? Why do people need certainty before they can take something seriously?”
An excellent question wellokaythen. And for me, part of the answer is “cause Shia is male”.